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The Gus McPherson [Director of Football] Appreciation Thread


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After the fall out from the defeats against Motherwell and Dundee United, the chairman of Coleraine gave an interview in the print edition of the Daily Record backing Oran Kearney to turn things around at St Mirren. He looked back to a time when Kearney offered to quit at Coleraine after losing I think 9 games on the bounce. His resignation wasn't accepted and he began turning the club around over the next few seasons. The Coleraine chairman mentioned the mess which Oran inherited at St Mirren and claimed that Stubbs hadn't scouted or watched many of the players he signed for St Mirren.

One month on from the close of the transfer window, and a few weeks on from the meltdowns after the Hibs, Motherwell and Dundee United games it seems an appropriate time to pay tribute to our director of football and the work which went on from his appointment in Setember until the close of the window to scout and recruit players for the crucial January window. It is looking like the vast majority of players signed in the January window are vast improvements on what Stubbs signed, and probably improvements on what we had under Jack Ross.

Hladky, Popescu, Muzek, Lyons, Tansey, McAllister, The Duck have all shown signs of hitting decent forms or improvement as they get match fitness and Dreyer has also sporadically shown some signs that if he gets a run and builds his confidence he could be a useful player as well. Paul McGinn has improved now he has genuine competition for a place in the team and Holmes hasn't been required to deputise for Hladky yet.

Take a bow Gus.

If we win next week a Jimmy Nicholl appreciation thread may be the order of the day.

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3 minutes ago, Big Yards said:

Paul McGinn was a Jack Ross signing as far as I’m aware?

also it wouldn’t be hard to find players who were better than Stubbs lot!

I didn't claim Paul McGinn was scouted by Gus... I said he had improved since he had competition for his right back berth (instead of being played in midfield when Hodson was a right back due to a shortage of decent midfielders signed by Stubbs).

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What about today's goalscorer? Flynn has come in for a lot of criticism and seems to have been playing well also. Will we start a thread for him? [emoji14]

Flynn was great today. His goal was testiment to his efforts. Making their 6 yard box at 89 minutes today was the best moment we have had for many a month.

I've questioned his efforts previously but he has lifted his game recently. More of that please Ryan [emoji106]

 

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6 hours ago, ALBIONSAINT said:

It’s funny that Gus has been mentioned after today’s game, as it reminded me of the type of games we had when he was the manager, dour draws or 1 nil wins. It kept us in the league and that’s all that matters. 

I didn't mind it when Gus was in charge, you knew what you where getting, my only complaint was that he never really gave any youth a chance.

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44 minutes ago, chalky1 said:

I didn't mind it when Gus was in charge, you knew what you where getting, my only complaint was that he never really gave any youth a chance.

In truth I don’t agree with this argument about youth. How many of the youth players from Gus’ time went on to bigger things? Our best prospects (David McKenna, Sean Burns, Ally Love, Mark Lamont) are all playing in League One or League Two, Conor Ramsey who was given some sub appearances is in non-league football.

On the other had our current captain was given his professional debut under Gus. A player who was good enough and would eventually move to Watford.

I think the reality is we never actually had a youth worth giving the opportunities to. Had Gus been here for another 5 years, I’m sure he would have given the opportunities to McLean, J.McGinn and Mallan.

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What pleases me about the signings Gus & Oran have brought in is that there does indeed seem to be a clear gameplan. Popescu & Muzek have brought some height that missing at the back, and Tansey based on his Hearts performances adds some dig. That stopped us getting bullied against Hearts & Livingston.

Hdalky is a modern goalkeeper with good, quick distribution. Nazron is a strong forward able to get on to those long balls from the keeper. McAllister is the type of pacy forward Kearney likes who alongside Lyons can push up quickly.

I'm not entirely convinced of the quality of all the new signings, but it would appear we are finally putting some proper thought in to the type of player we want & the style of football we want to play.

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3 hours ago, Cornwall_Saint said:

In truth I don’t agree with this argument about youth. How many of the youth players from Gus’ time went on to bigger things? Our best prospects (David McKenna, Sean Burns, Ally Love, Mark Lamont) are all playing in League One or League Two, Conor Ramsey who was given some sub appearances is in non-league football.

On the other had our current captain was given his professional debut under Gus. A player who was good enough and would eventually move to Watford.

I think the reality is we never actually had a youth worth giving the opportunities to. Had Gus been here for another 5 years, I’m sure he would have given the opportunities to McLean, J.McGinn and Mallan.

You may be right. I'm sure I recall that we were looking at improving our Youth Set Up when he was the manager

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23 minutes ago, Kemp said:

What pleases me about the signings Gus & Oran have brought in is that there does indeed seem to be a clear gameplan. Popescu & Muzek have brought some height that missing at the back, and Tansey based on his Hearts performances adds some dig. That stopped us getting bullied against Hearts & Livingston.

Hdalky is a modern goalkeeper with good, quick distribution. Nazron is a strong forward able to get on to those long balls from the keeper. McAllister is the type of pacy forward Kearney likes who alongside Lyons can push up quickly.

I'm not entirely convinced of the quality of all the new signings, but it would appear we are finally putting some proper thought in to the type of player we want & the style of football we want to play.

Indeed.

Not bad for the "panic buys" , "no signing strategy" and "players signed after watching videos from agents" that was being claimed by quite a few during the transfer window.

It's quite clear to see that there has been a lot of thought and hard work put into our January signings and, that they have improved our performances and results considerably.

Hopefully it's a strategy that will continue to bear fruits for us in the future, no matter which division we're in next season.

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